The history of the LDS community and the split away from other denominations

The argument

Followers of LDS claim that God sent many more prophets after Jesus’s death. Joseph Smith is a prophet and founder of LDS. He had a series of visions and in 1823 was directed by an angel to a buried book of golden plates. He translated these and wrote the Book of Mormon which was published in 1830. He saw his church as the restoration of the early Christian church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) do acknowledge it is different to mainstream Christianity, but there are also many commonalities such as its focus on faith in Christ, following the teachings of Jesus Christ, the miracle of the atonement, and many other doctrines.

Premises

Counter-arguments

A counter notes that whether the LDS Church belongs within 'Christian' belief is itself contested: many mainstream Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox bodies regard its additional scripture, distinct account of the Godhead and belief in continuing prophets as placing it outside historic Christianity, while the LDS Church identifies firmly as Christian. Describing its history as a 'restoration' adopts the movement's own framing; others describe the same nineteenth-century events as a divergence rather than a recovery of the original church. The entry, on this view, is better read as presenting the LDS self-understanding than as a neutral settling of its relationship to the other denominations.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Whether the LDS Church sits within historic Christianity is disputed; many mainstream denominations regard its additional scripture and distinct theology as placing it outside, whereas the LDS Church identifies as Christian. [Rejecting P3] 'Restoration' adopts the movement's own framing; the same history can be described as a nineteenth-century divergence rather than a recovery of the original church.